According to the farm ministry, wine output by the world’s second largest producer, only surpassed by Italy, is expected to be between 42.8 million and 46.4 million hectoliters this year, which would represent a 6% to 13% decrease from the 49.4 million hectoliters produced last year, Reuters reported.
A hectoliter is equal to 100 liters and represents around 133 wine bottles. The ministry’s 2019 forecast is also 2% to 5% lower than the average wine output in France over the last five years.
“In many vineyards, flowering occurred in unfavorable weather conditions (rain and cold),” the ministry said in a Friday statement obtained by Reuters. “Heat and hail have also contributed to a decline in production potential.”
While production in areas like Bordeaux, the famed wine grape-growing region in the country, was primarily impacted by inadequate flowering conditions and frost, vineyards in southern parts of France were affected by a heat wave in late June.
In June, more than half of France, including the capital of Paris, was struck by an extreme heat wave. According to the country’s national weather agency, Meteo France, temperatures reached as high as 114.6 degrees Fahrenheit, causing wildfires to spread across some vineyards.
According to the farm ministry, drought conditions this month also resulted in low soil moisture in grape-growing regions.
However, as French wine grapes are harvested in late summer and early fall, the accuracy of the ministry’s production estimates will not be certain until then.
